Democrats To Control Oakland County Board Of Commissioners
PONTIAC (AP) — For the first time in decades, Democrats are in the majority on the Board of Commissioners in Michigan's second-largest county.
Voters in Oakland County chose four Democrats in districts that usually go Republican. Democrats now will have a one-seat majority.
County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, a Republican, says he wasn't surprised by the election results Tuesday. He says he's always "reached across the aisle...to pass a bipartisan, balanced" budget.
Oakland County for years was known as a safe haven for Republicans in the Detroit area. But voters backed Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for president, even rejecting native son Mitt Romney in 2012. Democrats also hold key countywide offices.
Commissioner David Woodward, a Democrat from Royal Oak, says it's a "new day" for the county.
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